1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device, such as an inkjet printer, and a liquid supply unit included in the liquid ejection device to supply liquid.
2. Related Art
A known example of a liquid ejection device is an inkjet printer that includes a liquid ejection head arranged on a carriage that traverses, or scans, a recording medium. The inkjet printer ejects ink, which is an example of the liquid, toward the recording medium from nozzle openings in the liquid ejection head. Such a printer includes, for example, a liquid supply source formed by a container. The liquid supply source includes an atmospheric communication passage. The printer supplies liquid from the liquid supply source to the liquid ejection head through a liquid passage. The printer adjusts the hydraulic head difference between the position of the nozzle openings in the liquid ejection head and the position of the surface of the liquid that contacts the atmosphere in the liquid supply source. This stabilizes the supply of liquid (e.g., JP-A-2012-51308).
To obtain a hydraulic head difference that allows liquid to be stably supplied from the liquid supply source to the liquid ejection head, when the liquid supply source is, for example, a container including the atmospheric communication passage, the surface of the liquid in the liquid supply source that is in contact with the atmosphere needs to be lower than the nozzle openings of the liquid ejection head. Thus, the container forming the liquid supply source cannot be a large-capacity container that includes an atmospheric communication passage when there is a possibility of the surface of the liquid, which is in contact with the atmosphere in the container, becoming higher than the nozzle openings. Further, the container forming the liquid supply source cannot be a tall and flexible when the container is sealed. Thus, a user cannot freely select the liquid supply source.